Informational traffic light system that provides traffic light specific incentive information based on traffic light timing

ABSTRACT

A system receives data describing a light state of a traffic light and timing status of the traffic light. The light states include a first state indicating the traffic light is displaying a stop signal, and a second state indicating the traffic light is not displaying a stop signal. The timing status describes the time remaining of current state to transition to another state. The system determines, based on the state of the traffic light and the timing status, one of a plurality of messages on the display device. The messages include a first message to shut off an engine.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of, and claims priorityto, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/608,763, now U.S. Pat. No.9,349,289, titled “INFORMATIONAL TRAFFIC LIGHT SYSTEM THAT PROVIDESTRAFFIC LIGHT SPECIFIC INCENTIVE INFORMATION BASED ON TRAFFIC LIGHTTIMING,” filed on Jan. 29, 2015. The disclosure of the foregoingapplication is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for allpurposes.

BACKGROUND

This specification relates to traffic systems.

Idling motor vehicles release a great amount of unnecessary pollutants,including carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. According to studies,every ten minutes of idling a vehicle can cost over one cup of wastedfuel (which leads to wasted money and unnecessary pollution). Studiesalso show that idling a vehicle for more than thirty seconds can lead tounnecessary pollution and costs associated with burning fuel whileremaining in idle. A motorist would save gas and money and limit theirpollutant emissions by turning their vehicle off when they will be idlefor more than thirty seconds.

Most of the idling of vehicles occurs at traffic lights. In manycircumstances, motorists may not know how long they will be sitting inone location at a traffic light; therefore, the motorist may not turnoff their vehicle.

SUMMARY

This specification describes technologies relating to informationaltraffic light systems.

In general, one innovative aspect of the subject matter described inthis specification can be embodied in a system, including a displaydevice, a communication subsystem, and a data processing apparatus indata communication with the display device and the communicationsubsystem. The data processing apparatus being configured to perform theoperations including receiving data describing a light state of atraffic light and timing status of the traffic light, wherein the lightstates include a first state indicating the traffic light is displayinga stop signal, and a second state indicating the traffic light is notdisplaying a stop signal; and the timing status describes the timeremaining of current state to transition to another state; anddetermining, based on the state of the traffic light and the timingstatus, one of a plurality of messages to display on the display device,wherein the messages include a first message to shut off an engine.

Particular implementations of the subject matter described in thisspecification can be implemented so as to realize one or more of thefollowing advantages. Light state and timing data may be specific totraffic patterns, and corresponding messages may thus be tailored toparticular traffic lights. Drivers are thus more likely to notice thedifference in the messages, e.g., especially for longer lights, andthereby be more likely to respond to the messages. This, in turn, leadsto reductions in wasted fuel and pollution and results in both personaland societal cost savings. In some implementations, the timing data maybe learned, and thus the system need not be programmed specifically foreach traffic light. Thus, deployment costs are reduced.

The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter describedin this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of thesubject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings,and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an informational traffic light system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a traffic information display device.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an example process for a traffic lightsystem.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of another of example process for a trafficlight system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an informational traffic light system 100according to various implementations of the present disclosure. Theinformational traffic light system 100 includes at least one trafficlight (for example, 120 a, 120 b, 121 a, 121 b in FIG. 1), at least onetraffic information display device (for example, 110 a and 110 b in FIG.1). In some implementations, at least one monitoring office (forexample, 130 a and 130 b in FIG. 1) is included. However, theinformational traffic light system 100 may be implemented at otherlocations than road traffic lights, and may be used at railroadlocations for vehicles and trains, among other locations. These andother systems are capable of interacting and communicating via one ormore communication networks 102. The communication networks 102 may be acommunication subsystem and may include telephone lines, such as landline or public switched telephone network (PSTN) systems, fiber optics,mobile phone channels and systems, satellites, satellite systems,electric lines, communication channels for exchanging data andinformation, such as a local area network (LAN), wide area network(WAN), Wi-Fi, the Internet, or other data, communication, ortelecommunication networks.

Additionally, in some implementations, traffic information displaydevice 110 a may communicate with traffic lights 120 a and 121 a viaconnections 122 a and 123 a, respectively. However, in someimplementations, traffic information display device 110 a maycommunicate with one or more traffic light via one connection or throughcommunication network 102. Also, in some implementations, trafficinformation display device 110 b may communicate with traffic light 120b and 121 b via connection 122 b and 123 b, respectively. However, insome implementations, traffic information display device 110 b maycommunicate with one or more traffic light via one or more connectionsor through communication network 102. Moreover, in some implementations,monitoring office 130 a may communicate with monitoring office 130 b viaconnection 132. However, in some implementations, monitoring office 130a may communicate with monitoring office 130 b through communicationnetwork 102. Monitoring offices 130 a and 130 b may be in one space orin multiple spaces. For example, monitoring offices 130 a and 130 b maybe in a single office building, in separate office buildings, in one ormore remote location (e.g., individuals working from their own locationor remotely), among others.

Typically a display device 110 is associated with one traffic light 120and positioned such that a driver can see both the display device 110and the traffic light 120, e.g., the display device is positioned nextto the traffic light. However, a display device 110 may receive datafrom more than one traffic light, which is used to determine anappropriate message to display, as will be described in more detailbelow.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a traffic information display device 110(seen as 110 a and 110 b in FIG. 1). Traffic information display device110 may include a power supply 210, a display area 220, an observationcomponent 230, and a control portion 250, the control potion 250including a memory 252 operatively connected to a processor 254. Thedisplay area 220 may include incandescent lighting (e.g., LED lightbulbs), backlighting, among others. Also, the display area 220 mayinclude a conditions portion 222, an instructions portion 224, and atiming portion 226, in which each portion corresponding data may bedisplayed to a drive. Further, in some implementations, the trafficlights themselves may be included in the traffic information displaydevice.

Traffic information display device 110 may be of dimension of 12-15inches in height, 36-48 inches in width, and 1-3 inches in depth.However, such dimensions are not meant to be limiting, and otherdimensions may be used. In some implementations, components of thedisplay area 220 may include flashing areas and components.

Power supply 210 may include an electrical connection, a solar battery,a lithium battery, lithium-ion battery, among other types of powersupply known in the art.

Conditions portion 222 may include indications of past, current, orfuture conditions, e.g., weather conditions, the current time, a currenttemperature, among others.

Instructions portion 224 may display instruction messages or otherinformation to be presented to vehicle drivers. For example, eachtraffic light (e.g., 120 a, 120 b, 121 a, 121 b) within the system mayinclude its own traffic information display device 110, but in someimplementations, two or more traffic lights may use one trafficinformation display device 110. Instruction messages provided mayinclude instructions as to when motorists should turn on and turn offtheir vehicles. For example, the instructions may be “SHUT OFF” enginewhen the corresponding traffic light is red, and when a cross trafficlight turns yellow (or otherwise a predefined time before thecorresponding traffic light turns green) instructions may be “RESTART”or “TURN ON” engine. Additionally, in some implementations, instructionsmay include an emergency message (e.g., Amber Alerts, weatherconditions, traffic conditions) or an emergency number to contact (theseinstructions may be provided during any traffic light status). Also,other information may be provided in the instructions portion 224,including advertisements, news, or other types of information.

Further, instructions portion 224 may also include incentives formotorists to turn off their vehicles when instructed (e.g., trafficlights red status). Incentives may notify motorists of positive and/ornegative information pertaining to idling the motorist's vehicle. Forexample, an incentive message may notify motorists that if they followthe “TURN OFF VEHICLE” and “RESTART VEHICLE” instructions, a motoristswould (1) save a certain number of dollars in fuel cost over a period oftime (e.g., one year), (2) save a certain number of gallons of fuel overa period of time (e.g., one year), and/or (3) reduce the motorist'scarbon dioxide deposit into the atmosphere over a period of time.

Further, in some implementations, an incentive message is based ontraffic pattern statistics specific to the traffic light for which thedata processing apparatus receives data describing the light state. Assuch, the incentive information provided in the display area 220 at onetraffic light may be different from the incentive information providedat another light, and the information may also vary depending on thetime of day. For example, if traffic light A has a light state of redfor an average of one minute (the incentive information may also takeinto account the time of day), then the incentive may calculate thegallons of gas saved over a period of one year using the one minute redlight status of traffic light A. However, if traffic light B only has alight status of red for an average of forty seconds, then the displaydevice associated with traffic light B may calculate the gallons of gassaved over a period of one year using the forty second red light statusof traffic light B.

Additionally, incentives may be, for example, references or citations toany type of ordinance, law, proposed law, or regulation in the area orjurisdiction (e.g., county, city, state) that pertains to and/orrequires motorists to not allow their vehicle to idle more than acertain period of time (e.g., no more than five consecutive minutes) orotherwise require motorists to follow instructions provided on thetraffic information display device 110. Also, in some implementations,incentives may be information and/or statistics related to harmfulenvironmental and/or health effects contributed to by idling motorvehicles, and/or information related to a motorist not following thenotifications in the information section (e.g., the turn off and restartvehicle instructions). For example, incentives may be presented thatprovide motorists with (1) a certain number of dollars in added fuelcost over a period of time if the idling notifications are not followed(e.g., one year), (2) a certain number of added gallons of fuel over aperiod of time if the idling notifications are not followed (e.g., oneyear), and/or (3) an addition to the motorist's carbon dioxide depositinto the atmosphere over a period of time if the idling notificationsare not followed. However, the examples above are not meant to limit theincentives that may be shown, and any type of information that may beincentivizing for motorists to stop their vehicle from idling at trafficlights or other locations may be included.

Timing portion 226 may include an indicator that counts to a trafficlight status change (e.g., count down by seconds to zero) and/or a timewhen the instruction in the instruction portion 224 will change (e.g., apredetermined time before the corresponding traffic light will change).In some implementations, timing portion 226 is not required, and in someimplementations, timing portion 226 is part of the instructions portion224 of the display area 220. The control portion 250 includes aconnection to one or more traffic light (via a wired or wirelessconnection) and/or one or more other component of the traffic lightsystem 100 to sync the traffic light status with the timing portion 226and other components of the traffic information display device 110.

Observation component 230 may include one or more sensor or component toobserve current setting and information within the vicinity of thetraffic information display device 110 and/or one or more traffic light(e.g., traffic light 120 a, 120 b, 121 a, 121 b). For example,observation component 230 may include one or more exhaust monitor and/orone or more camera. Each of the one or more components may be connectedto or located next to or away from the traffic information displaydevice 110. Each of the one or more components may be configured tocommunicate directly or indirectly with traffic information displaydevice 110 and one or more of the monitoring offices 130 a and 130 b.For one or more cameras, in some implementations, an individualassociated with one or more monitoring office 130 a and 130 b may beable to view the content the one or more cameras are capturing. If theindividual associated with the one or more monitoring offices 130 a and130 b sees or is otherwise notified of problems at one or more of thetraffic lights or traffic information display devices 110, then theindividual may be able to contact or notify one or more supporter of theincident. The one or more supporter has or is provided with thecapability to assist with the problems. The problems may be, forexample, a stranded vehicle in the intersection, debris in the roadway,issues with one or more traffic lights, among others. The one or moresupporter may use a support vehicle (e.g., a tow truck or other type ofvehicle that is provided with items and capabilities of assistingmotorists with accidents or roadside problems) to assist.

Control 250 is a data processing apparatus that includes a memory 252operatively connected to a processor 254. The processor 254 may be oneor more general-purpose or specific-purpose processors ormicrocontrollers for controlling the operations and functions of thetraffic information display device 110. In some implementations, theprocessor 254 may include a plurality of processors, computers, servers,or other processing elements in one or more locations for performingdifferent functions within the traffic light system 100.

The memory 252 may include one or more internally fixed storage units,removable storage units, and/or remotely accessible storage units, eachincluding a tangible storage medium. The various storage units mayinclude any combination of volatile memory and non-volatile memory. Forexample, volatile memory may comprise random access memory (RAM),dynamic RAM (DRAM), etc. Non-volatile memory may comprise read onlymemory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flashmemory, etc. The storage units may be configured to store anycombination of information, data, instructions, software code, etc. Thememory 252, processor 254, and different components of each the memory252 and processor may be located in one or more locations, including atthe traffic information display device 110 and/or one or more monitoringoffice. Programs and other commands for the traffic information displaydevice 110 (e.g., illuminating the proper portions of the lighteddisplay area 220 to communicate the programmed or selected message orinformation to motorists) and/or one or more traffic light may be storedat memory 252 and executed by processor 254.

Control 250 also includes a communication device 256 that enablescommunication between the traffic information display device 110 and oneor more traffic lights and/or one or more monitoring offices. Thecommunication device 256 may communicate over communication network 102or other ways of communication, and communication device 256 may supportwired networks, wireless networks, Bluetooth networks, WiFi networks,WiMax networks, RF networks, local area networks (LAN), internetnetworks, wide area networks (WAN), cellular telephone network,hardwired telephone networks, 900 MHz wireless networks, and satellitenetworks, among others.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram 300 of an example process for a traffic lightsystem. At step 302, the state of one or more traffic light and timingstatus associated with the traffic light state is received by a dataprocessing apparatus. The data processing apparatus may be a componentof control 250 (e.g., memory 252 and processor 254), a component of oneor more monitoring office 130, a component of one or more traffic light,or a combination of one or more component of the aforementioned control250, monitoring office 130, and traffic light.

At step 304, the data processing apparatus determines the state of aparticular traffic light from the received data. In someimplementations, a particular traffic light may be in a first state or asecond state. In some implementations, the first state may be when thetraffic light is red or otherwise informing motorists to “stop” at thetraffic light (e.g., flashing red light). In some implementations, thesecond state is any traffic light state that is not the first state(e.g., yellow, green, flashing yellow, etc.). In some implementations,if the status of the traffic light is determined to be yellow, green, oremergency status (described below), an emergency message or an emergencynumber to contact may be provided in the instructions portion 224. Also,other information may be provided in the instructions portion 224,including advertisements and news, among others, during traffic lightstatus of green lights, yellow lights, emergency status, and in someimplementations, red lights.

The status of one or more traffic lights may be determined to beemergency status when the connection between one or more trafficinformation display devices 110 and one or more traffic lights isdisrupted, the electrical power for one or more traffic lightsassociated with the one or more traffic information display devices 110is disrupted, one or more monitoring office adjusts one or more trafficlight status to emergency status (e.g., based on a stalled car oraccident in an area that affects one or more traffic light in therelated traffic light system), among others. In some implementations, inthe emergency status, the traffic light may flash red and/or the trafficinformation display device 110 may indicated an emergency or provideinformation about the emergency, information pertaining to directions(e.g., detours or turning off engines) and/or incentives.

In flow diagram 300, if the particular traffic light is determined to bein the first state, then at step 306 the data processing apparatusdetermines if a message should be displayed, given the timing status.For example, in some implementations, a predetermined or adjustingamount of time before the light status is set or scheduled to change maybe set. Such a time may be, for example, 45 seconds, or some other time.

If the current time at the time of the determination in step 308 is madeis after the predetermined or adjusting amount of time (or the timeremaining until a status change is less than the predetermined oradjusted amount of time), then a message may not be displayed or themessage that is displayed may be different. However, if the current timeat the time of the determination in step 308 is made is before thepredetermined or adjusting amount of time (or the time remaining until astatus change is greater than the predetermined or adjusted amount oftime), then as seen in step 308, the traffic information display device110 will display a message for motorists to “shut off” their engines.Further, if in the determination at step 304, the particular trafficlight is determined to be in the second state, then as seen in step 310,the traffic information display device 110 will not display a messagefor engine instructions.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of another example process for a traffic lightsystem. At step 402, the state of one or more traffic light and timingstatus associated with the traffic light state is received by a dataprocessing apparatus (e.g., described in FIG. 3).

At step 404 the data processing apparatus determines the state of aparticular traffic light. In some implementations, the first state maybe when the traffic light is red or otherwise informing motorists to“stop” at the traffic light, and the second state is any traffic lightstate that is not the first state. If the particular traffic light isdetermined to be in the first state, then at step 406 the dataprocessing apparatus determines if the time remaining before the trafficlight status changes is greater than a threshold amount of time (aspreviously described, the threshold amount of time may be predeterminedor adjusted). If the particular traffic light is determined to be in thesecond state, then at step 408 the traffic information display device110 will not display a message for engine instructions.

In step 406, if the time remaining before the traffic light statuschanges is greater than the threshold amount, then the process moves tostep 410 where the traffic information display device 110 will display amessage for motorists to “shut off” their engines. If the time remainingbefore the traffic light status changes is less than the thresholdamount, the process may proceed to step 408.

However, in some implementations, step 412 may be performed. At step412, the data processing apparatus determines if the time remainingbefore the traffic light status changes is less than a second(different) threshold time (e.g., ten seconds). If the time remaining isless than the second threshold time, then at step 414 the trafficinformation display device 110 will display a message for motorists to“turn on” their engines. In some implementations, the second thresholdtime is a time that is less than the first time threshold, but greaterthan zero (i.e., the time the traffic light status changes).

Step 414 provides instructions to motorists to enable them to have theirvehicle on when the traffic light status changes. However, if at step412 the data processing apparatus determines the time remaining beforethe traffic light status changes is greater than the second thresholdtime, e.g., less than 45 seconds but greater than ten seconds, then theprocess will proceed to step 408 where the traffic information displaydevice 110 will not display a message for engine instructions.

Embodiments of the subject matter and the operations described in thisspecification can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or incomputer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structuresdisclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or incombinations of one or more of them. Embodiments of the subject matterdescribed in this specification can be implemented as one or morecomputer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer programinstructions, encoded on computer storage medium for execution by, or tocontrol the operation of, data processing apparatus. Alternatively or inaddition, the program instructions can be encoded on anartificially-generated propagated signal, e.g., a machine-generatedelectrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal, that is generated toencode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus forexecution by a data processing apparatus. A computer storage medium canbe, or be included in, a computer-readable storage device, acomputer-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memoryarray or device, or a combination of one or more of them. Moreover,while a computer storage medium is not a propagated signal, a computerstorage medium can be a source or destination of computer programinstructions encoded in an artificially-generated propagated signal. Thecomputer storage medium can also be, or be included in, one or moreseparate physical components or media (e.g., multiple CDs, disks, orother storage devices).

The operations described in this specification can be implemented asoperations performed by a data processing apparatus on data stored onone or more computer-readable storage devices or received from othersources.

The term “data processing apparatus” encompasses all kinds of apparatus,devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example aprogrammable processor, a computer, a system on a chip, or multipleones, or combinations, of the foregoing The apparatus can includespecial purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gatearray) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). Theapparatus can also include, in addition to hardware, code that createsan execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g.,code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a databasemanagement system, an operating system, a cross-platform runtimeenvironment, a virtual machine, or a combination of one or more of them.The apparatus and execution environment can realize various differentcomputing model infrastructures, such as web services, distributedcomputing and grid computing infrastructures.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) can be written in any form of programminglanguage, including compiled or interpreted languages, declarative orprocedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, object, orother unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram may, but need not, correspond to a file in a file system. Aprogram can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programsor data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup languagedocument), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or inmultiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules,sub-programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployedto be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are locatedat one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by acommunication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can beperformed by one or more programmable processors executing one or morecomputer programs to perform actions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performedby, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application-specific integrated circuit).

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for performing actions in accordance with instructions andone or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally,a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive datafrom or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices forstoring data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks.Devices suitable for storing computer program instructions and datainclude all forms of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices,including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM,EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal harddisks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROMdisks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, orincorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments of the subjectmatter described in this specification can be implemented on a computerhaving a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquidcrystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and akeyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by whichthe user can provide input to the computer.

Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can beimplemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component,e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g.,an application server, or that includes a front-end component, e.g., auser computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser throughwhich a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matterdescribed in this specification, or any combination of one or more suchback-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of thesystem can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital datacommunication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of communicationnetworks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a wide area network(“WAN”), an inter-network (e.g., the Internet), and peer-to-peernetworks (e.g., ad hoc peer-to-peer networks).

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of anyinventions or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions offeatures specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions.Certain features that are described in this specification in the contextof separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in asingle embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described inthe context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multipleembodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover,although features may be described above as acting in certaincombinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more featuresfrom a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from thecombination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the embodiments described above should not be understoodas requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should beunderstood that the described program components and systems cangenerally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

Thus, particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described.Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In somecases, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a differentorder and still achieve desirable results. In addition, the processesdepicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require theparticular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallelprocessing may be advantageous.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a display device that isassociated with a traffic light and configured to be positioned fordisplay next to the traffic light so that a plurality of motorists canview both the traffic light and the display device; a communicationsubsystem; a data processing apparatus in data communication with thedisplay device and the communication subsystem and configured to performoperations comprising: receiving data describing a light state of thetraffic light, wherein the light states include a first state indicatingthe traffic light is displaying a stop signal, and a second stateindicating the traffic light is not displaying a stop signal; andreceiving data describing traffic pattern statistics specific to thetraffic light for which the data processing apparatus receives datadescribing the light state; determining, based on the state of thetraffic light and based on the traffic pattern statistics specific tothe traffic light, one of a plurality of incentive messages to displayon the display device, the incentive message describing a savingsassociated with shutting off an engine at the traffic light during thefirst state; and displaying the incentive message.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, the operations further comprising determining to display thefirst message when the light state is the first state and a timingstatus indicates a time remaining for the first state exceeds a firsttime threshold.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the incentive messageindicates at least one of fuel cost savings, fuel savings, and reducedcarbon dioxide deposits over a period of time realized by a motoristturning off an engine at the traffic light.
 4. The system of claim 3,wherein the fuel cost savings is a fuel cost savings over a period oftime.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the fuel cost savings is amonetary cost.
 6. The system of claim 4, wherein the fuel cost savingsis an emission cost.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the trafficpattern statistics specify a number of motorists stopped at the trafficlight for an average time and a time period that encompasses a pluralityof times that the traffic light is in the first state, and thedetermining the incentive message comprises determining the cost savingsbased on a plurality of motorists, the average time, and the pluralityof times that the traffic light is in the first state.
 8. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising displaying messages describing real-timetraffic conditions.
 9. The system of claim 1, further comprisingdisplaying advertisements.
 10. A traffic information display device,comprising: a processor and a memory, the processor beingcommunicatively coupled to the memory, and the processor configured toperform operations including; receiving data describing a light state ofthe traffic light, wherein the light states include a first stateindicating the traffic light is displaying a stop signal, and a secondstate indicating the traffic light is not displaying a stop signal; andreceiving data describing traffic pattern statistics specific to thetraffic light for which the data processing apparatus receives datadescribing the light state; determining, based on the state of thetraffic light and based on the traffic pattern statistics specific tothe traffic light, one of a plurality of incentive messages to displayon the display device, the incentive message describing a savingsassociated with shutting off an engine at the traffic light during thefirst state; and causing a display device to display the incentivemessage.
 11. The device of claim 10, the operations further comprisingdetermining to display the first message when the light state is thefirst state and a timing status indicates a time remaining for the firststate exceeds a first time threshold.
 12. The device of claim 10,wherein the incentive message indicates at least one of fuel costsavings, fuel savings, and reduced carbon dioxide deposits over a periodof time realized by a motorist turning off an engine at the trafficlight.
 13. The device of claim 11, wherein the fuel cost savings is afuel cost savings over a period of time.
 14. The device of claim 11,wherein the fuel cost savings is a monetary cost.
 15. The device ofclaim 11, wherein the fuel cost savings is an emission cost.
 16. Thedevice of claim 11, wherein the traffic pattern statistics specify anumber of motorists stopped at the traffic light for an average time anda time period that encompasses a plurality of times that the trafficlight is in the first state, and the determining the incentive messagecomprises determining the cost savings based on a plurality ofmotorists, the average time, and the plurality of times that the trafficlight is in the first state.
 17. A computer-implemented method,comprising: receiving data describing a light state of the trafficlight, wherein the light states include a first state indicating thetraffic light is displaying a stop signal, and a second state indicatingthe traffic light is not displaying a stop signal; and receiving datadescribing traffic pattern statistics specific to the traffic light forwhich the data processing apparatus receives data describing the lightstate; determining, based on the state of the traffic light and based onthe traffic pattern statistics specific to the traffic light, one of aplurality of incentive messages to display on the display device, theincentive message describing a savings associated with shutting off anengine at the traffic light during the first state; and causing adisplay device to display the incentive message.
 18. The method of claim17, wherein the traffic pattern statistics specify a number of motoristsstopped at the traffic light for an average time and a time period thatencompasses a plurality of times that the traffic light is in the firststate, and the determining the incentive message comprises determiningthe cost savings based on a plurality of motorists, the average time,and the plurality of times that the traffic light is in the first state.19. The method of claim 18, further comprising displaying messagesdescribing real-time traffic conditions.